CONNECTION RESPON- 2,789,646 Patented Apr. 23, 1957 ice 2 As shown in the diagram of Fig. l, a vehicle of the type described is illustrated during a turn. The vehicle includes 'a pair of rear wheels A and A driven from a difierential' C and a pair of front wheels B and B driven from a differential D. As shown, the differential D and the front wheels B, B describe circumferential paths d, ,b, b, having a common center 0 and the respective radii,Rd,,,Rb, Rb, while the rear Wheels A, A and rear differential C describe concentrical paths 0, a, a, having radii Re, Ra, Ra, respectively smaller than the corresponding radii of the paths described by the rear diiferential and rear wheels.

As a result, if the input shaft to the front difiEerential D and the input shaft to the rear differential C are driven at a common velocity it is evident that there would necesisarily occur a difference between the tangential speeds exclusive utility as applied to tractors of the type used to draw farming machines and the like.

It is an object of the invention to provide a motor vehicle, particularly a tractor, which has improved performance characteristics over known vehicles of comparable type. Another object is to improve the per-formance of such a vehicle during turns. A further object is to minimize or prevent skidding of such a'vehicle-during turns. A further object is to improve the coordination between front and rear wheels in a vehicle provided with an all-wheel drive, particularly during a turn. A specific object is to cause the front wheel or wheels of such a vehicle to be positively driven, during a turn, at an angular speed corresponding to the angular speed of that one of the rear wheels which is outermost with respect to the turn, regardless of the direction in which the turn is made and regardless of whether the vehicle is moving forwards or backwards.

The above and further objects of the invention, as well as the characteristic features and advantages thereof, will be fully apparent from a perusal of the ensuing descrip.

tion which discloses by way of illustration but not of limitation a preferred embodiment of the invention as well as some modifications thereof, with reference to the accom panying diagrammatic drawings, wherein: a r

of the front wheel with respect to the tangential speedof the rear wheels, proportional to the length of the path they follow, said difference corresponding in turn substantially to the ratio of the radii described by the rear differ- '.;ential C and the front differential D respectively (Fig. 1).

Such a difierence will have as a result a slippage all the greater as the steering angles ,8 and p of the wheels B---B" are the greater and render the devices for driving front'and rear differentials at the same speed inoperable for vehicles such as agricultural tractors in which the steering angle of the steering wheels is very large, es-

pecially in case of a vehicle having a single front driving and steering wheel D (Fig. 3), in such a case, the rear wheel A would pivot about a fixed point, while said front wheel D would be positively driven at the same speed as the rear differential.

Figs. 1 and 2 further demonstrate that the forward differential D (Fig. 1) or the single front wheel D (Fig. 2) as the case may be, follow arcuate paths substantially equal in radius to the path followed by the outer rear Fig. l is a simplified diagram illustrating the utilityof the invention in the case of a vehicle having a pair of rear wheels and a pair of front wheels;

Fig. 2 is a similar diagram relating to the case of a vehicle having a pair of rear wheels and a single front wheel;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view in elevation of a tractor provided with one simple form of improved drive according to the invention;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the vehicle shown 'in Figi 3, in isometric showing, to illustrate the main components of the improved drive;

Fig. 5 is an axial section of a countershaft and selector assembly according to a more elaborate embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a simplified plan view of some cooperating components in the drive system according to the embodiment of Fig. 5, in the position assumed during forward driving; i

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, with some parts omitted, in the position assumed during reverse driving;

Fig. 8 is a view in elevation showing the parts in the same position as Fig. 6; r

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on line IXIX of Fig; 8; and

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatical illustration of the invention wheel A.

According to the invention, therefore, the forward differential D (Fig. 1) or front wheel D (Fig. 2) instead of being driven at the same velocity as the rear difierential C, is driven at the same velocity as the rear wheel A which occupies the outer position during the turn. The radii RB. and Ra are, as a matter of fact, much closer to each other than the radii Re and Rd (Fig. 1) and are even practically superposed in Fig. 2. For this purpose,

the front differential or wheel D instead of being driven as in known systems through a common gear box like wise driving the rear differential C, is driven from that one of the rear wheels which is located outwardly during the turn, i. e. from wheel A or from wheel A depending on the direction in which the turn is made.

While the change-over from the condition in whichthe front axle receives its drive from the left rear wheel to the condition in which the front axle receives its drive from the right rear wheel may be effected by actuation of a manual control, preferably such change-over is automatically performed through means whereby the drive is at all times taken from that one of the rear wheels which is rotating at the greater angular velocity. Such means may include two similar mechanisms one serving for forward drive and the other for reverse, and the appropriate one of said mechanisms being automatically made operative' upon actuation of the reversing lever of the gear box.

As diagrammatically illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, a farming tractor of generally conventional design has a frame 3, a front axle 1 mounting a single front wheel D and rear axles 2 and 2' mounting the rear wheels A, A. The rear axles 2 and 2 are supported at the lower ends of depending supports formed as casings 4 and 4 secured to the opposite sides of the chassis 3 near the l scribed assembly of parts will assume either the position shown in Fig. 6 with lever arm '55 rocked leftwards and part 59 moved to the left, or the position shown in Fig. 7 wherein lever arm 55 is rocked to the right and the part 59 (not shown in that figure) moved likewise to the right. Spring-actuated lever 50 acts as a'toggle link to hold the assembly securely. inthe position to which it has been moved. it

Upstanding from the rear of plate53 (Fig. 8) is a pair of posts 66 spaced a distance corresponding to the spacing present between the rollers 46 and 46' when both clutch members'32a and 32a are simultaneously moved fully to their right or left endmost position. A pairof lever arms 65 each have a sleeve portion projecting from one end thereof, said sleeve portions being rotatably jour-' nalled around the respective posts 66. Secured to the free ends of lever arms 65 by means of nuts 63 (Figs. 8 and 5) are the spindles 64, upon which the previously described rollers 64 are mounted.

As more clearly visible from Fig. 5, each nut 63 is formed .with a downward axial extension whichis-ex ternally threaded for rotatable connection therewith of the internally threaded upper end of a related sleev member 62, 62. i

The sleeve members are formed with diarnetricallyopposed slots extending along the greater part of their' length. Extending through the slots in sleeves 62, 62' are a pair of resilient strips or arms 61, 61' having their one end fixedly engaged in a pair of slots (not shown) formed in the sleeve portions integral with the lever arms 65,

mentioned previously, and their other ends fixedly engaged in a pair of slots formed in the displaceable part members 32a 'and 32'a are displaced to their leftward end positionas shown in Fig. 5 or 6, so that clutch teeth 26 engage teeth 27, andteeth 26' engage teeth 27. Both clutch members 32a and 32a are constrained to rotate bodily with shaft 19. Assuming the vehicle enters into a turn, say a turn to the right, the right rear wheel will be rotating somewhat slower, and the left rear wheel will belrotating somewhat faster, than the front wheel of the vehicle. Hence. gear 17 and clutch element 26 associated with the right wheel will be rotating somewhat slower than shaft 19 and clutch element 26, while gear 17, and clutch element 26' associated with the left rear wheel will be rotating somewhat faster than shaft 19 and clutch element 26'. As a result, the drive will be trans-' mitted to shaft 19 only through clutch teeth 26'-27', that is from gear 17 and the left rear wheel, whereas the clutch teeth 27 will idly overrun the cooperating clutch teeth 26 without transmitting any torque. Such idle overrunning of the clutch teeth 27 is made possible owing to the yielding character of the connection including the resilient levers 61, 61; in the exemplary instance just considered, the resilient lever 61 will flex as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 6 each time a ridge of the clutch teeth 27 encounters a ridge of clutch teeth 26, thus allowing the roller 64 and clutch member 32a to yield in an axial direction along shaft 19, and permitting the desired overrunning action between clutch elements v26, 27 to be accomplished. In the case of a turn to the left during forward drive, the operation will of course be opposite, with the clutch teeth 26-27 transmitting the torque and the clutch teeth 2627 overrunning with respect to one another.

When the vehicle is to be driven in reverse gear,

the driver operates lever 48 to its upward position shownin 7. The extension 49 then rocks arcuate lever to the position'showmin which element 59 is brought" to its; rightward position adapted to cause clutch teeth 29 to engage with clutch teeth 28, and teeth 29' with teeth 28'.

before, that is, it will flex as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 7.

The above described device relates more particularly to a vehicle having a single front driving wheel as i1- lustrated on Figs. 3 and 4. In the case of a vehicle having two front driving wheels, as illustrated on Fig. 10, the same device may be used (chains 16.-16', intermediate clutch shaft 19, chain 24) to ensure the driving of the front differential D through the semi-shaft of the: rear dilferential C occupying an outer position in the turn.. In the case of a vehicle with two driving front wheels, the front differential D might in fact be omitted, as thefront wheel B (Fig. 10) occupying an inner position in the details of structure described and illustrated may be modified in many ways within the scope of the invention. ,In particular the yielding connection between the clutchmembers 32a, 32a and the actuating means therefor, such as the gear shift lever 48, may assume a variety of forms other than that disclosed. Moreover, the selection of the particular rear differential output shaft from which the drive is to be transmitted to the front wheels may be accomplished under control of the steering mechanism, through any suitable operative connection with the, steering shaft.

What I claim is:

1. In a motor vehicle having a motor, rear wheels and a front wheel means, a rear differential having an input shaft driven from said motor and output shafts driving said rear wheels, a rotating member driving said, front wheel means, and means for selectively establishing a drive connection from a selected one of said output shafts to said member.

2. In a vehicle having a motor, rear wheels and a front wheel, drive means for said front wheel a rear differential having an input shaft driven from said motor and a pair of output shafts respectively driving said rear wheels, and means for selectively establishing a drive connection from a selected one of said differential output shafts to the drive means for the aforesaid front wheel.

3. In a vehicle having a motor, rear wheels and front wheelsna rear differential having an input shaft driven from said motor and a pair of output shafts respectively driving said rear wheels, a forward differential having an input shaft and a pair of output shafts respectively driving said front wheels, and means for selectively establishing a drive connection from a selected one of said rear differential output shafts to said input shaft of the forward differential.

4. The combination claimed in claim 1, which includes a manual control member for operating said selective means.

of said output shafts, and a displaceable clutch meanson said countershaft adapted one position to connect If the vehicle is now turned to the nightgl the drive will be transmitted through clutch teeth 29 -28 the turn, is driven directly through mere clutches by the: rear wheel A occupying an outer position in the turn.

It will be apparent to those familiar with the art that member;is rotating at a lower speed than the counter;

saidfirst sets of teeth, said teeth being so relatively disposed that eachcooperating pair of sets of clutch ff awn-Jame r msnsm s -.s dtmsa zete to the; ountershaft it themernber is rotating at a higher 45 speed than the countershaft but will overrun idly if the v at-t 1 s V 10, 111 :2; vehicle a motor rear wheelsganda front wheel means, a rear differentialhavinganinput shaft. 60 driven, from the motor andoutput gshaits respectively drivir rg; t he rear wheels, -a rotatable countershatt, means transmittingrotatiomfrorn the countershaft to the front v whee means; a painof spacedmembers I mounted on the countershaft for;Erotation relative thereto meanstran s- 55 mitting i otation from each of the output shafts to' a related one ef said members a first set of overrunning cluteh teeth rotatable with each member, and second-sets ofoverrunning cluteh teeth rotatable with said counter- Shaft n l eqt rel WQPQ i'lF -W h. said first Sets teethfyi eldlng rneansmountingat least oneof the sets of teeth in each cooperating pair for slight axial. displacement: toward and away from the other set, the relative. arrangement of said clutch teeth beingsueh. that torque will he transmitted to the countershaft from that member WhlCh 'iS rotating,fasten than Tl fIn a vehicle, a moton rear wheels and a front wheclmeania rear. differentialhaving aninp ut shaft, including reverser means rnovableto a for- 7. reverse: pes i tio n for seleetively transmittingfq'O move rrie ,froiri ithemotor to said sinput shattina fori ward andfa ri'eversedirection respectively, and output shaft 'f'rs i a d d er ntia l s ss i l d i ing, a daee z hee e ten senatashatt tl ee s t ansm ttin tatioh "'froni the countershaft to' the 'front wheel means,

z-setsandaa secondgeverseset: ofisoverrunning -clutch teethrotatable :therewith,- .said rassemblyl i'being tbodily displace s able as :a unittbetween- -a forward position-in which-each seeond;.zforwardasetrtis in =rcooperativesengagement with a related firstisforward -set "of .teeth,- "and a reverse-'posi-- v'stiort'finiwhich eac h. second reverseset is in teooperative engagement'withta related-first-reverseset of teeth' yieldingmeans, providing for a-small amount ofreIatiVeaXia-I- displacement betweenL said-lelemer 1ts',-=-t-l:te relative orientation of the teeth in the respective sets= beingsuch-thatf torqueswillt the transmitted to "the; countershaft from the part-ieularamember rotating tastenthanit through said cooperating forwardsets =of -tee'th when the assembly is moved to its forward positionand throughsaid cooperating reversesets of teeth when the assembly-is moved to its reverse position and -means forselectively -moving said aSsembly-to "its -foward and to its reverse position w according aswhetherrnovement is transmitted to said i nput shaftgin the for-Wardmnd inthe reverse sense, whereby during a: turn-of the 1 vehicle both in forward :and reverse movement-thereof the front wheel-meanswill-be-driven from the particula'r rear output shaftlocated outward '1 0f-the;-turn.--= i 12:In-the;eombination of parts claimed-inclaim 11;" means connecting said reverserjreans-to said -selector as-' s'embly and adapted to move the assembly'todts-forward 1 position when the reverser means is moved to its forward position, and-to its-reverseposition when thereverser means is moved-'to its reverse position. 4 e 13. ln the 'combinationof parts claimed in claim 11; a manuallydisplaceable-'member connected to said reverser-means to movethe'latter'means to either selected one=of-its forward andits reversepositions, and means. displaceable with the manual member and connected to the selector assembly-tonmoving the' assembly toa cor-1 responding; one of its tor'ward and reverse positions.

. mechanismjincluding reverser means movable to a for- I ward and a reverseposition for selectively;transmitting movement jromythe motor to theinput shaft in a for-Q ward and-a reverse ,direction respectively, 'andoutputw shafts from said"difierential respectively Ldrivingsaid rear I wheelsga rotatablecountershaft, means transmitting ro-, onrrom. e; fl t t ha to th iwn Lmea s a a pair of membersmounted on,the countershaft for rotation relative thereto, means transmitting rotation from each of the: output shafts to a related one oflsaid memhers, each member having a first forward set anda first reverse'set of overrunning clutch; teeth secured for rotation-therewith, a selector. assemblyfmountedIon the countershaftffor rotation therewith" and axial displace ment relative thereto; said assemblylcomprising two' selector elements,;each element having a second forward j set and a secondreverse set of overmnningclutch teeth rotatable therewith; and an, operative connection. from said reverser'means to said assembly whereby with the reverser means moved to its forward position the assembly ;is moved to a forwardposition in which each second forward set of teeth is in cooperative engagementjwitha related first forward set of t eeth, and with f; thc reversermeans movefd to its'revers er position the a ssembly is moved to a reverse position in which each secdsr v r et o st t i i c oper iv en a ement ,7 w h. a rs tedfi s IYQ Q set-9 t eth sa da e isnr including yielding means supporting each selector element for slight axial displacement along said countershaft relative to the other element, the relative orientation of teeth in the respective sets being such that torque will 'be transmitted to the countershaft from the member rotating faster than it in either position of said reverser means, whereby during a turn of the vehicle both during forward and reverse movement thereof the front wheel lmeans will be driven from the rear output shaft located outward of the turn.

15. The combination of pants claimed in claim 14, wherein said connection includes a lever connected with said reverser means for displacement thereby between two positions, a pair of parallel spaced resilient arms having their one ends pivoted on fixed pivots and their other ends connected to said lever for parallel angular displacement of said arms about said pivots on displacement of said lever between said positions, each arm being adapted to fiex slightly between its ends towards and away from the other arm, and means respectively connecting said arms at intermediate points thereof to said selector elements, whereby displacement of said reverser means between its said positions will effect an angular displacement of said resilient arms about said pivots to shift the selector elements bodily between said positions thereof, while the resilient flexing of either arm 25 will allow overrunning operation of a set of clutch teeth associated with the element connected to said arm.

16. In a vehicle, a frame, front and rear driving wheels, a support pivotally mounted in said frame for said front wheel, a rear diiferential having a power driven input shaft and output shafts driving said rear wheels, a rotary driving member adjacent said front wheel sup port, means for selectively connecting one of the output shafts of the differential to said rotary driving member, and means for driving the front wheel comprising a jointed drive having end shafts one of which is connected to the front wheel and the other to said rotary driving member, said shafts being journalled respectively in said support and frame.